Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management, Revised and Expanded Edition [Paperback]

Daniel M. Shea (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275970949 | ISBN-13: 978-0275970949 | Publication Date: June 30, 2001 | Edition: Rev&Expand

Shea and Burton present and updated and expanded version of Shea's 1996 guide to and analysis of modern American political campaign communication. Bringing to bear both academic and professional experience, they cover all aspects of present-day political campaigns from understanding the context of a particular campaign (national trends, the media market, demographic research, etc.) to strategic thinking (developing an overall theme and strategy), and to specific voter contact techniques (the tactical use of fundraising, paid media, free media--including the Internet--and get-out- the-vote drives). Throughout the text, Shea and Burton's discussion and anlaysis is peppered with examples from national, state- level, and local campaigns. This comprehensive guide is must reading for all those interested in the campaign process, including candidates and political activists as well as scholars, researchers, and students involved with American politics and political communication.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DANIEL M. SHEA is Associate Professor of Political Science at Allegheny College.

MICHAEL JOHN BURTON is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ohio University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers; Rev&Expand edition (June 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275970949
• ISBN-13: 978-0275970949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #490,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Resource, April 2, 2001

By 

Catherine M. Shaw (Ashland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management (Praeger Series in Political Communication) (Paperback)

As a previously elected official (Mayor of Ashland, OR), author of The Campaign Manager, Running and Winning Local Elections, and a local campaigner for the last 15 years, I try to read every book there is on running campaigns.

The process of running an election is always evolving and so I look for new material to expand my understanding of this bizarre field. Daniel Shea's book is excellent. It is well written, comprehensive, and has a depth of field I've found in no other book. While it may not give you the step-by-step approach to campaigning, it does provide the necessary foundation for understanding the process and getting to a win. What a resource.

Shea's accounts of statewide campaigns are extraordinarily helpful in illustrating specific aspects of a campaign and his understanding and explanation of electoral targeting is excellent. Electoral targeting and precinct analysis may be one of the most important things a candidate can do to win an election and yet is the most difficult for some to understand. However, Daniel Shea is able to explain it in simple, understandable ways so the reader can apply it.

Whether you're interested in running for office or simply want a better understanding of how the process works, I would recommend this book. Easily five stars. I only wish I'd written it.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of the Biz, June 30, 2003

By 

Joshua Rosenblum "Supergenius" (Ramadi, Iraq) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management, Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback)

As someone who has spent their entire professional life in politics, this book did not break any new ground. However, as someone who now teaches democracy in the former Soviet Union, I do like to read these types of books to order my normally scattered thoughts and be able to communicate ideas more effectively.

Shea's update of his orginal 1996 text is a very competent overview of most aspects of modern campaigning and is highly recommended for anyone working in the business or anyone who just wants to know how modern campaigns function. The book is highly modular, you can read various sections independently of each other. Shea pays close attention to research - a topic often given short shrift in many campaigns but deadly necessary in developing strategy. He covers well opposition research, precinct targeting by electoral history and polling (including the differences between different types of polls and why the ballot test is not necessarily the most useful. Something I can't get the Azeris to understand!!!)

Shea and Burton also explain the various aspects of paid and earned media strategy, including the use of "new" media. (I'm not sold on the use of the Net to move message, but it does have excellent fieldwork potential.) Their sections on fundraising and fieldwork are a bit skimpy, but certainly enlightening to people unfamiliar with the campaign operation.

All in all, Campaign Craft is a solid workhorse of a book, dutifully explaining in good detail the various aspects of a modern political operation. It's well recommended to anyone looking for an overview of the biz.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Overview of Modern Campaign Practices, April 2, 2001

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management (Praeger Series in Political Communication) (Paperback)

Shea has written a solid book on campaign management. This is a big book that contains a lot of information on major subject areas. Fundraising, organization, free and paid media, candidates are all covered.

Shea gives many of his subject areas a historical perspective. For novices, they will learn that many of the practices decried by today's reformers were practiced by our founders and their successors (Washington purchased hard cider for voters to aid in his election to the House of Burgesses; Van Buren accelerated the use of hard hitting media)

Those interested in applying the arts of campaign management will find the book well organized and thoroughly descriptive of the various aspects of the modern camapaign. It does tend to focus on larger campaigns, so those running for local office will have to understand that topics like television advertising and massive fundraising are not applicable to their races. Still, the book presents a good and thorough description of today's campaign practices.

I'm teaching a course in elective politics at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Center of Government. This is one of the required reading books for the course and is also used by some other teachers in the field at colleges and universities around the country.